The Dignity of Traditional Advertising

People know the stakes when their show stops for a commercial break, or their magazine article is continued on another page and they must pass advertisements to get to it.

That’s life. Advertising makes media cheaper, and in return, does its best to catch your attention and make the case for why you need the product or service.

It’s quid pro quo. We may not like seeing antacid ads when our tummies are calm, but the brand is banking it can make an impression you’ll remember in the aisle of CVS when it feels like you’ve had a fire appetizer with razor blade entree.

We know and accept the rules of traditional advertising. But pop-up ads and harvesting our digital trails to barrage us with messages based on our searches, that’s a different thing. Our patience wears thin, especially when we’re the ones paying for the data used to assault us.

Subjects that were once of interest suddenly become ravenous packs of annoying digital stalkers, interrupting us in ingenious ways, trying to trick us into going into their vortex of selling.

(click) WHOOPS–– DAMMIT, THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT! GET ME BACK TO THE PREVIOUS PAGE–– FAST!!!

Marketers must consider that the rules are different online. Time moves much slower (do you tolerate slow-loading pages?).

Your patience is much shorter (“get to the point!”).

Messages that use tricks and try to hijack people are hated and resented (what product or service needs that hurdle to leap?)

Be smart when advertising in the traditional media and especially the digital media. Be empathetic, understanding, and decent.